Leading a Team: Action Plan for Building Team Trust and Collaboration

This report, prepared by a student, presents a comprehensive action plan for a sales director to build trust and collaboration within a sales team. The plan addresses key stakeholders, outlining the benefits of decisions for each group and emphasizing the importance of effective communication. It details specific behaviors and strategies to gain team trust, including active listening, treating employees with respect, and demonstrating fair leadership. Furthermore, the report emphasizes the value of supporting and collaborating with other team members and other departments within the company. The report also covers task allocation, creating accountability, and maintaining alignment, including identifying key tasks, delegating responsibilities effectively, and providing ongoing support. The report also details on conflict management strategies, including analyzing processes, assessing team dynamics, and creating a culture of valuing each individual's contributions. This report is a valuable resource for understanding and implementing effective leadership strategies within a sales environment.

Running Head: LEADING A TEAM 1
LEADING A TEAM
Professor’s name
Student’s name
Date
Title of the course

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LO1 Understand principles of leadership
Task 2: An action plan for gaining team trust and collaboration
In this particular section plan for the sales director will be prepared. For doing this I as a sales
leader need to build some amount of trust between the sales team and myself. Moreover, I would
also like to see them supporting and collaborating with each other and also with the other people
in the organization. It has been said that the sales director of the company would like me to
prepare a plan of action that will contain certain elements in it (Chatman & Cha, 2003).
1. The way stakeholders of the company will be benefitted by the decisions
It can be said that the stakeholder always plays an important part in each and every type of
organization. The following are some of the stakeholders that are present in each and every type
of company:
- Primary stakeholders: These are the stakeholders that are said to be affected ultimately
either in negative manner or in a positive manner by the actions of a company
- Secondary stakeholders: They are also referred as the intermediateries so they are
affected by the companies action in an indirect manner
- Key stakeholders: They are the stakeholders who have an important influence within the
entire company.
Throwing light on the above-mentioned discussion it can be said that for making good
management or leadership decisions it is quite important to take the views along with the

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perspective of stakeholders of the company into account. However, the extent to which the
stakeholders tend to affect the activities of a company completely depends on the relationship
between the company and the stakeholder. It can be also said that the Mendelow’s matrix also
provides a great way of mapping stakeholders that is based on their power for affecting the
company and also their interest in doing the same. It tends to identify the responses which the
managers might need for managing the different stakeholders (Senge, 1996).
It is needless to say that the good stakeholder communication can be greatly controlled by
developing a communication plan that is excellent in nature. It has been observed that some of
the stakeholders need the handholding while the other stakeholders are happy with the entire
interim progress reports. In this scenario the communication plan can be made excellent with
regards to understanding the e stakeholders closely. In order to make decisions that will benefit
the stakeholders it is quite important to ask the stakeholders what exactly they expect from the
relationship and also being a sales team leader it is quite important to make them understand
what exactly I want from them. For instance, being the sales team leader I will be agreeing and
deciding on the timelines for the progress reports that are agreed by everyone. Through the entire
communication plan I will be also be able to reduce any problems that occur up front. In this way
I will be also to build develop and trust for fostering a productive and strong relationship with
the potential stakeholders of the company.
2) The rest of the plan
a)
For gaining the trust of the sales team the leader must exhibit the following behavior:

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- The leader must consider listening for the purpose of learning. Judgment should not be
made.
- The employees should be treated by the leader as the creative, talented and resourceful
individuals as they are.
- The leader must consider themselves to the high standards they must own what they do
not do or do
- If the leader is self-aware, self-managed and self-motivated then the employees will be
able to trust them
- The employees must be observed as the individuals not roles, kindness and respect must
be shown to them for gaining their trust
- It can be said that words, actions and behaviors must be used with a great caution or else
it may break the trust of the people
- The leader must learn to know what matters to the sales employees in team
- Fair and principled behavior must be demonstrated by the leader for gaining the trust of
the employees (Ingram and et al., 2005).
- The leaders must also consider giving the employees more than they receive
- The leader must also make it a point to help the employees to observe the why behind
what

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b)
The leader must not forget to encourage the sales team employees for supporting and trusting
each other so that they will be able to work as a team.
- The first thing that the leader must do is to tell their sales team members to trust each
other. Without directly judging someone from their rumors an individual must mix with
them personally so that they can trust them.
- Addressing the issues directly can be also considered to be the building blocks of trust.
The leader must inform the employees that if someone in the team is bugging them then
they must consider talking to that individual directly for building trust and working as a
team towards achieving common goals and vision set by the organization (Malhotra &
Lumineau, 2011).
- It can be also said that for trusting each other it is also quite important to say no to
someone when an individual really means no. Most of the individuals fear of being
labeled as selfish but at the end they end up breaking the trust (Stogdill, 1974).
c)
The leaders of the company must make the sales team members realize that the value of
supporting a collaborating other individuals and team within the company will give a huge
number of benefit. The collaborative efforts in the company will lead to some of the best
innovative approaches towards the new processes, and project for accomplishing the shared
ideas, key tasks on various responsibilities. The following are some of the benefits of
collaboration and support: Greater amount of creative input such as if different individuals are
collaborating and supporting each other for the task or a goal then it may in return raise the

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quality and visibility of the products that are offered by the company. Furthermore, it can be also
said that collaborating and supporting also increases the morale of the employees as they work
together as a team.
Task 3: A report on allocating key tasks, creating accountability and maintaining
alignment
It has been said in this particular task that I will be allocating the main tasks to the individual
sales people so that the sales objectives can be achieved in an excellent manner. The sales
director has asked to prepare a report by addressing three main points. Before starting this
particular segment I want to tell that the leaders that are exceptionally good in nature have a long
list of quality traits in specific that will set the good leaders for the envisioning purpose. If an
individual is not at all a great leader then they will never be able to allocate the main tasks, create
accountability and maintain certain amount of alignment for their teams.
1- Identifying, monitor and allocating key tasks
a) Identifying the main tasks
The main tasks can be identified only when the mission and vision of the company is entirely
understood by the leader. Not only that the main tasks will also be identified keeping in mind the
resources available in the company.
a) Allocating work to the team so that they can understand the proper objectives
The tasks will be allocated by the leaders to their team members only after judging their skills
and expertise.
Some of the ways by which the tasks can be allocated are as follows:

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- Considering the priority of the work
- Evaluating the skill sets of the people
- Enquiring the availability of the team member
- It is also quite important to know the interest of an individual the work that will be
assigned to them
b) Delegating tasks
Delegating tasks is considered to be an art that can only be performed by an excellent leader. The
first golden rule a leader must follow with regards to their job of delegating is always giving the
right type of work to the right type of people. It is the most vital point in this segment. The
following are some of the ways that the leader must consider when they are delegating the tasks
to the sales team:
- Identifying the main opportunities for delegation: It must be kept in mind that everything
cannot be delegated the team leader has earned their position as they have the necessary
skills and experience for executing the work in a successful manner. It is an absolute
necessity for being effective delegator is being able to identify which of particular task
are suitable for delegation and which type of work is not. If the leader feels that no task
can be delegated then they must breakdown the tasks into what skills they actually
require. Throwing light on the above-mentioned segment it can be said that the leader
must consider training an individual who will be able to handle it in a smooth manner

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- Establishing a clear set of objectives for each and every task: No matter whatever task is
being delegated it is extremely important to make sure that the leader clarifies all of the
objectives for the tasks.
d) Provide encouragement and support to your team
There are some of the most notable by which the leaders may provide encouragement and
support to the team:
- Promoting teamwork across the borders as this particular practice will lead to enhanced
communication throughout the company and also it will also help in providing best solutions to
the worst problems.
- Creating roles that are quite clear in nature as it will enable the employees to carry out their
jobs in a serious manner.
- It is also the duty of the leader to be confident and decisive enough as it is the time when the
employees will also be drawn to such leaders who have extreme self-confidence during the tough
times (Tschannen-Moran, 2001).
e) Help to steer them through any difficulties or challenges
- It is one of the most important duties of a leader to take enough time for watching and listening
to the challenges or difficulties faced by the employees. So that the leaders will be able to take
necessary step for helping the employees to deal with anxiety
- The leaders should also motivate the employees by being with them and saying that the tough
times do not last forever but the tough people do. Challenges will arrive every time but they must
be confident enough to deal with them

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- It is also quite important that the leaders must express genuine concern when the employees are
in extreme difficulties. However, this will not only help the leader to solve the problems but it
will also help the employees by allowing them to talk in a free manner about what exactly is
troubling them
- The leader must also try to fix at least whatever they can. It can be said that guidance or
reassuring word from them may have a positive impact on the employees in the times of
difficulty
f) Manage conflict
The different ways by which a leader can manage the conflicts are as follows:
- The leader must analyze the present processes in the place. If the processes are poor then it is
needless to say that it will be creating problems for the teams and management of any kinds.
- It is also quite important that the leader analyzes their team as having wrong individuals will
cause multitude of issues.
- A culture must be created where each and every person’s value is well-known. When the
conflict takes place the members of a team become quite insecure about their value and place in
the company. In this particular scenario the leader must remind them that they all are important
part of the company and everyone’s contribution is precious and unique. Then each person
involved in the conflict must be requested to take few minutes for reflecting on the appreciation
and respect that a leader have for them, then it must be internalized and then each of them should
be approached with similar appreciation and respect.

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g) Monitor the progress and quality of their work, providing constructive feedback
It can be said that the effective leaders always monitor their employees most of the time.
Generally, most of the leaders tend to monitor the work of their employees by observing and
listening what exactly they do when a particular task is assigned to them (Bolden & Gosling,
2006). Hence, it is quite evident that monitoring the progress of the students is quite critical as it
helps the leader to:
- Achieve highest quality of work
- Improve their work
- To be more aware of their on-going performance and be more responsible for their work
It will also help the leaders to decide:
- When to praise the employees
- What to do about the mistakes made by the employees
- How to include different types of sales people in a particular task
Giving feedback is the information that is given by the leaders to the employees with regards to
how they have performed in relation to the stated goal or the outcome that was expected.
Effective feedback will provide the employees with the following:
- Information about what happened
- Guidance with regards to how the performance of the sales people can be improved
- An evaluation how well the task or the action was performed by the sales people

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When the feedback is given to the sales people it will help them to:
- What they cannot perform yet
- How they can improve
- How their work contrasted with that of the other individual present in the sales team
- What they can do
It is quite important for the leaders for understanding that effective feedback will help the sales
people to a great extent.
h) Provide recognition when objectives are achieved
Recognition is said to be one of the most important elements of motivating the employees.
Retaining the quality sales people may be a challenge for the company but the employees can be
retained if the leaders provide them with right amount of recognition. Recognition can be both
expensive and inexpensive in nature (Nanus, 1992). The following are some of the inexpensive
ways that can be considered by the leaders and the company to recognize the work of the sales
people in the team:
- Giving the sales team meaning the people who have achieved the goal excellently a day-off so
that they can celebrate and spend time with their loved ones or even then may choose to relax.
- The company may also consider the team gong and it must be ringed whenever an individual
from the sales team reaches a significant milestone or achieves something extraordinary for the
company

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- Hand written notes can be also considered to be the personal and smallest gesture that can
surely be most effective. Penning a personal note to an individual in the sales team specifying
that they did to deserve the praise is a huge booster of their morale and shows the individuals that
the company along with their immediate team mates appreciates them.
The expensive ways that can be considered by the company for recognizing the achievement of
the sales team employees are as follows:
- Providing them with subsided home services
- Subsidizing the education for their children
- Encouraging those employees to go for a vacation that will be entirely paid by the company
itself
- The company may also consider giving a significant amount of donation on the behalf of their
employees. The donation can be made to the charity of the employee’s choice as it will help
them to feel they are making a positive difference and then strengthen the faith of the employee
in their company.
2) - Demonstrating and creating accountability
a) Demonstrating accountability for achieving own tasks
It has been said that if a leader wants to build a no blame culture where the sales team members
are comfortable enough to showcase the accountability then the leader must want them to
develop the ability to learn through the mistakes they have made (Carroll, Levy & Richmond,
2008). The ways that I will make myself accountable for own tasks are as follows:

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- Valuing own time
- Stop blaming others
- Improving weaknesses and emphasizing on strengths
- Doing one task at a time
- Making myself accountable
b) The ways of creating accountability in the team members
The following are some of the ways by which a leader will be able to create accountability in
their team members:
- Creating a culture of accountability, obligation and mutual responsibility
- Setting the expectation that is quite clear in nature
- Keeping an eye on the progress and providing ongoing feedback
- Focusing on solutions not blaming anyone
- Cultivating a feeling of ownership with regards to the result of the teams
3) – Maintaining alignment and consistency
a) The ways of maintaining alignment of the company’s resources with its goals and vision
The following are some of the ways:
- It is said that feedback needs to be quite consistent in nature
- Tasks needs to be properly allocated by the leaders

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- Each and everybody gets recognition
b) Demonstrating consistency in strategy, resource allocation, and structure at operational
level
It can be said that there is a direct relationship between the structure and strategy. It can be said
that strategy can be formulated nor adjusted to the circumstances that are constantly changing. In
this particular scenario maintain consistency by the leader is extremely important. It can be done
by being positive.
c) Demonstrating agreement between words and actions at an interpersonal level
Maintaining agreement between words and actions is quite vital mostly in the interpersonal level.
A leader must not say something that they cannot do at the interpersonal level because it can hurt
the sentiments of the team members.

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References
Bolden, R., & Gosling, J. (2006). Leadership competencies: time to change the
tune?. Leadership, 2(2), 147-163.
Carroll, B., Levy, L., & Richmond, D. (2008). Leadership as practice: Challenging the
competency paradigm. Leadership, 4(4), 363-379.
Chatman, J. A., & Cha, S. E. (2003). Leading by leveraging culture. California management
review, 45(4), 20-34.
Ingram, T. N., LaForge, R. W., Locander, W. B., MacKenzie, S. B., & Podsakoff, P. M. (2005).
New directions in sales leadership research. Journal of Personal Selling & Sales
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Ingram, T. N., LaForge, R. W., Locander, W. B., MacKenzie, S. B., & Podsakoff, P. M. (2005).
New directions in sales leadership research. Journal of Personal Selling & Sales
Management, 25(2), 137-154.
Malhotra, D., & Lumineau, F. (2011). Trust and collaboration in the aftermath of conflict: The
effects of contract structure. Academy of Management Journal, 54(5), 981-998.
Nanus, B. (1992). Visionary Leadership: Creating a Compelling Sense of Direction for Your
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Senge, P. M. (1996). Leading learning organizations. Training & Development, 50(12), 36-37.
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